The present invention is directed to antenna mounts for motor vehicles, and in particular antenna mounts for motor vehicles such as tractor trailers carrying air deflection or drag reduction equipment including roof fairings mounted to the cab of a vehicle, fairing shaped roofs, or fairing shaped raised roofs, to reduce air resistance during operation of the vehicle.
Roof fairings for motor vehicles, and in particular, tractor trailers, are generally known to the art, and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,784,424; 4,919,472; 5,174,626; and 5,755,485. Roof fairings and other wind deflection apparatus are mounted to the roof of a cab of a tractor trailer truck for deflecting air over the front wall of a trailer being towed by the cab to reduce air resistance during operation of the tractor trailer. U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 249,783; 314,163; and 339,314 disclose additional designs for wind deflection apparatus mounted to, or defined on, the roof of a cab for a tractor trailer truck.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,337,062; 5,389,942; 5,402,134; and 5,410,325, generally disclose antennas used in conection with motor vehicles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,931,809 and 4,370,658 disclose antennas carried on air deflection apparatus mounted to the roof of a cab of a tractor trailer truck.
Known antenna mounts carried by air deflection apparatus of motor vehicles, and in particular roof fairings mounted to the cabs of tractor trailer trucks, exhibit several disadvantages. In order to protect the antenna from the external environment and to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance, antennas have been mounted internally within the hollow volume of a roof fairing. However, by enclosing an antenna within the fairing, the fairing interferes with transmission and reception of radio signals. Additionally, mounting an antenna within a fairing restricts the manner in which the roof fairing is finished. For example, electro-static painting requires a conductive part such as aluminum or steel. Plastic and fiberglass parts require a conductive primer or gelcoat to compensate. However, conductive coatings adversely affect the transmission and reception of signals by an antenna enclosed under the fairing so that fairings which are intended to house an enclosed antenna cannot be efficiently painted by an electro-static process, but must be separately painted "off-line" by the truck manufacturer.
Known antennas mounted externally to roof fairings exhibit other disadvantages. These antennas extend above the top of the fairing and are subject to damage from overhead obstructions such as tree branches. Antennas which extend beyond the top of the fairing are subject to excessive stress and susceptible to damage during normal operation of the vehicle. Moreover, because a portion of the antenna extends above the top of the roof fairing, it adversely affects reduction of air resistance provided by the roof fairing during operation of the vehicle.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a device for mounting an antenna externally to air drag reduction apparatus for a motor vehicle, and in particular roof fairings mounted to the cab of a tractor trailer or roof fairings integrally formed as the roof or raised roof of the cab of a tractor trailer, overcoming the disadvantages of the known devices. In accordance with this primary objective, an antenna mount is affixed to the outer surface of a roof fairing, is mounted in an opening cut out from a roof fairing, or is integrally defined on the outer surface of a roof fairing, and is arranged and oriented relative to the roof fairing to optimize the efficiency of radio signal transmission and reception while reducing the disadvantages of known external antenna mounts. Therefore, the antenna mount in accordance with the present invention avoids the numerous disadvantages associated with internal antenna mounts enclosed within the hollow interior of a roof fairing, and optimizes the efficiency of an antenna mounted externally to a roof fairing or other drag reduction equipment carried by a motor vehicle. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the drawings.